This matches the Chinese experience perfectly. In cities like Shenzhen or Shanghai, you have incredibly dense retail within walking distance, yet JD.com and Pinduoduo still dominate because the logistics infrastructure is just that good — same-day or next-morning delivery is the norm, not the exception. The Costco vs Amazon framing assumes a choice between warehouse efficiency and delivery convenience, but Chinese e-commerce collapsed that distinction years ago. Pinduoduo's model — group buying with farm-to-door supply chains — achieves Costco-like bulk economics through demand aggregation rather than physical warehouses. The real question is whether American suburbs will ever have enough population density to make that model work there.